God’s grace, the gift of faith, for life: 2Pet 1:2 “…To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” this faith is given to any and all who would believe that Jesus is.
Eph 2:10 So “It is by grace that you have been saved, and this by faith – and this is the gift from God.” This faith enables us to believe and trust what is unseen
Heb 11:1 As “…faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Romans 4:3 Our faith, the faith God requires can be seen in the forerunner and father of our faith, Abraham, as he “…believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. His faith was credited to him as righteousness”. It is our believing God, trusting Him, entrusting to Him our life and eternal welfare, for the forgiveness of sin and life in Him in faith that saves – and this is love expressed: grace and faith.
Our salvation is not by works, or anything else we might do, but by grace, through faith, a gift from God, His divine persuasion - that it would be His grace!
Matthew 7:21, 24 “not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’… but did we not… in your name?.” is saved”; the one who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is a wise man who built his house on a rock.”
John 6:26-59 “…what are the works God requires? …the work of God… Is to believe…”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he sent… that whoever believes…”
Faith: where does this faith come from?
Faith is: God originated; God authored; God pioneered –
Galatians 1:1-13 “… that the gospel I preached is not of human origin... I did not receive it from any man…. For you have heard of my previous way of life, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.”
Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith.”
Faith is: a gift of God, from God - God-given; God-kept; God-finished - as He has promised:
John 3:16 “...that whoever believes has eternal life…”
Faith is: always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. Persuaded, we come to trust, we have faith; that this, He, is true, and we believe this by divine persuasion, therefore “I believe!”, trust, and entrust myself to Him and am saved.
Ephesians 2:8 “8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…”
How does faith work? "Faith" in and for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" and therefore distinct from human belief and confidence, while yet involving it. The Lord births faith in the (elect) as an appeal to their heart that they are loved and purchased, redeemed, acceptable in Jesus. God then continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).
Faith is: always received from God and never generated by us.
Faith is: God finished – begun, completed and perfected
Philippians 1:6 “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Faith is: God kept; God-empowered, God-accomplished
Philippians 2:13 “it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
Work - Energy – God says: “ I work, am operative, am at work, am made to work, accomplish; mid: I work, display activity, personally engaged in…” which intensifies the "work" – God energizes, working in a situation which brings it, or the person from one stage (point) to the next: i.e. sinful to righteous; death to life; darkness to light - like an electrical current energizing a wire, bringing it to a shining light bulb – Go God’s “energy” works, or flows, in us to have the desired effect.
To will - desire, to wish (for) - Lord extending His "best-offer" to the believer – wanting (desiring) to birth His persuasion (faith) in them which also empowers, manifests His presence - to be determined to act according to the God’s purposes – thus not only then saved by grace through faith, but living and working out salvation bin and by that same grace and faith.
Faith is: a gift of God, a gift that never stops giving! God-given; God-kept; God-finished; God accomplished; God finished; accomplishing His will and purposes in and for those who love Him and have been called by Him - as He has promised:
Ephesians 2:6-10 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Romans 8:28-30 “28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who i have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Faith is genuine: God proved genuine - our faiths’ persevering through trials and temptations - God’s desire for us to know that our faith is real…
1Peter 1:6-9 “suffering… have been given so that your faith… might be proved genuine”
This surety is the seat of our joy, our strength, as we see and can be confident in, the goal of this faith - The Forgiveness of sin (and sins); salvation of our souls; the exchange of sin for righteousness (of Jesus); Our being justified by God - declared innocent of all charges against; the promise of God being for us - “who will (now) bring any charges against us?” (Isa 50:7-10)… if God is for us who can be against us?”; being sanctified, set apart to by His will, to accomplish His will; endowed with an eternal hope - the great and confident expectation of being glorified with Him. (Rom 5;8)
Faith is: precious, priceless, to be cherished - How valuable is this faith?
1Peter 1:7 “your faith...more valuable, of greater worth, than gold, even though refined…”
1Peter 1:18-19 “18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19but with the precious blood of Christ”
Faith is: resilient: How durable, how reliable is this faith? How trustworthy is it? More importantly, how trustworthy is, He? Because this faith is not of ourselves, we can trust that…
Romans 8:18-39 “nothing can separate us from the love of God...
Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion, or perfection”
He has placed His seal of approval on us (Eph 1:13-14; 2Cor 5:4-5)
Ephesians 1:13-14 “13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
2Corinthians 5:5-9 “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident… So we make it our goal to please him.”
What does this faith do?
As much as it saves, it enables us to live confidently and joyfully in its hope - the certainty of God’s love expressed in Jesus and Jesus’ work and promises, which are sufficient to save and sustain – the real and true promise of forgiveness of sin, the imputation of Jesus’ righteousness, the indwelling of the Spirit, the very Person of God in us, and the permanency of our adoption as His, our Abba Father’s children. And on top of all of that, being declared CO-HEIRS with Christ in the kingdom!!
1Peter 1:8-9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
This faith lives a life of love…
Gal 5:5-6 “For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”
Romans 5:5 “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Galatians 5:22-23, 25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control…. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
As God reveals Himself to us we are persuaded of His reality, His love for us, His glory. As we see and believe it is by faith we receive what He offers us in Jesus, we are changed, justified, made righteous, now able to receive Him, and having received Him, we are made new. And being new, I find myself wanting more - to see more, to hear more, to experience more - of Him – is wonderful evidence of the reality of this faith – even or especially In our suffering.
That wanting of more, even when frustrated in our continued longing and delayed satisfaction, is a proof of the reality of God in our lives - our heart’s longing for more - that will not be fully realized until we see Him face-to-face in glory. In the meantime, we ache, we long, we groan - waiting, anticipating, the glory to come, but in hope, by faith, eagerly waiting for our (eternal redemption as children of God (Rom 8)
The gospel, the good news of God’s love for us in and through Jesus is the power and provoker of our faith for salvation:
Romans 1:16-17 “...the gospel… is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes… For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith… the righteous will live by faith.”
Gospel: After the death of Christ the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for men in the kingdom of God, and then restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God; so “gospel” may be more briefly defined as "the good news of salvation through Christ; the proclamation of the grace – the gift of eternal life - of God manifested and pledged in Christ; that is - the gospel"
Power: "inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth"
Gospel being the expression and effect of that power - manifest, acting in and on, men
Miraculous power to make right and righteous - as to change and transform through and by that power - the gospel, which is His power seen, experienced, realized
